US 2002/0171249 A1 · Quarter turn latch

Abstract

A quarter turn latch for joining a cover to a housing of an enclosure enables a technician to lock the enclosure by simply slamming the cover shut. The latch also enables a technician to unlock the enclosure by rotating the shaft by a quarter turn. The latch includes a shaft and a clasp. The shaft includes a head and a tail. The tail includes peripherally alternating sets of longitudinally spaced teeth and tail cam surfaces. Each tooth has a shoulder facing the head of the shaft and a tooth cam surface. The perimeter of a cross section of each tail cam surface is arcuate. The clasp includes pawls. When the tail is inserted into the clasp, each pawl is in contact with the tail cam surface, the tooth cam surface, or the shoulder. The latch prevents unauthorized access to the enclosure by requiring specific tools to rotate the shaft. The latch is applicable to a wide variety of equipment enclosures such as fiber optic interconnection devices, fiber closures, and fiber cross connect fields, used in a variety of environments.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A latch for joining a cover to a housing, said latch comprising:

a shaft comprising a head and a tail, said tail comprising peripherally alternating at least one set of longitudinally spaced teeth and at least one tail cam surface, each tooth of said longitudinally spaced teeth having a shoulder facing said head and having a tooth cam surface, a perimeter of a cross section of each tail cam surface being arcuate;
a clasp comprising at least one pawl, wherein each of said at least one pawl is in contact with one of said tail cam surface, said tooth cam surface, and said shoulder when said tail is inserted into said clasp.

A quarter turn latch for securely joining a cover to a housing, said latch comprising:

a shaft comprising:
a head, wherein said head is selected from the group consisting of a Phillips head, a slotted head, a KS-type screw head, and a 216-type screw head;
a tapered tail, said tapered tail being tapered such that as a distance from said head increases a diameter of said tapered tail at said distance decreases, said tapered tail comprising two sets of longitudinally spaced teeth and two tail cam surfaces, said two sets of longitudinally spaced teeth and said two tail cam surfaces being peripherally alternating, each tooth of said longitudinally spaced teeth having a shoulder facing said head and having a tooth cam surface;
a perimeter of a cross section of each tail cam surface being arcuate, an apex of said perimeter being positioned opposite a respective set of longitudinally spaced teeth;
and
a limiting portion for limiting motion of said shaft and for attaching said shaft to said cover;
and
a clasp comprising two pawls, each pawl being in contact with one of said tail cam surface, said tooth cam surface, and said shoulder when said tail is inserted into said clasp, each pawl being pushed radially inward by a inherent force, said inherent force being a consequence of a resilient formation of said clasp, wherein responsive to said inherent force:
when rotational positioning of said shaft is prohibited, said shaft is urged in a direction of extraction when each pawl is in contact with a respective tail cam surface and said shaft is urged in a direction of insertion when each pawl is in contact with a respective tooth cam surface;
and
said shaft is rotationally urged to cause at least one of said two pawls to be in contact with a respective at least one of said two sets of longitudinally spaced teeth;
an opening defined by said cover, said shaft being positioned within said opening, said opening comprising a pair of stops for limiting rotational motion of said shaft to 90 degrees by making contact with said limiting portion of said shaft, wherein:
said shaft is capable of being inserted into said clasp and extracted from said clasp when said shaft is rotated to a first limit of said rotational motion;
said shaft is capable of being inserted into said clasp and prevented from being extracted from said clasp when said shaft is rotated 90 degrees to a second limit of said rotational motion;
and
a retaining clip for attaching said shaft to said cover, wherein said retaining clip is attached to said limiting portion of said shaft.

13 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Quarter turn latch

Life of this patent

Quarter turn latch

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims19